A degree of common sense is needed from employers in order to maintain health at work during the current heat wave, it has been suggested.

According to a spokesperson from the Institute For Employment Studies (IES), to ensure people are working efficiently and effectively, they need to be comfortable within the bounds of health and safety.

"If the culture of over-smartness is at the expense of efficiency then it is probably not a good idea," he added.

The representative was responding to recent comments by the Trade Union Congress (TUC), which claimed employers should relax office dress codes and cool down overheating offices.

Expanding, the IES spokesperson said that the suggestions from the TUC were really a matter of common sense that was conducive to public safety.

Insurance provider RSA also recently recommended ensuring workplace temperatures do not rise above 25 degrees Celsius as this could cause productivity to decrease and increase the risk of accidents.

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